3 Oct 2015

This week, Brendan Rodgers confirmed that Christian Benteke will be out injured 'for a bit of time', which almost certainly means that he won't be available for Sunday's Merseyside Derby. Benteke's international team-mate Romelu Lukaka will start the game, though, and according to Anfield legend Graeme Souness, he and Liverpool's £32m summer signing are very similar players.

"Benteke is a threat when he's...firing on all cylinders but there are occasions when he has gone missing and that's a concern.

"I'd put Romelu Lukaku in the same bracket. One day he's not interested and then in another game you think he could be playing for Real Madrid".

Prior to his Everton transfer, Liverpool were regularly linked with a move for €43m-rated Lukaku, but which club got the best deal? Let's look at the stats:

Benteke vs. Lukaku: Premier League

Minutes Played

* CB: 7812 (95 games)

* RL: 8208 (119 games)

Goals

* CB: 44 (1 every 177 mins)

* RL: 46 (1 every 178 mins)

Assists

* CB: 9 (1 every 868 mins)

* RL: 23 (1 every 356 mins)

Goals/Assists Combined

* CB: 53 (1 every 147 mins)

* RL: 69 (1 every 118 mins)

Chances Created

* CB: 139 (1 every 56 mins)

* RL: 118 (1 every 69 mins)

This Season

* CB: 2 goals/assists in 6 games (1 every 247 mins)

* RL: 8 goals/assists in 9 games (1 every 101 mins)

Overall, Lukaku offers more goals/assists per minute, and with eight goals/assists in nine games this season, Lukaku is blowing Benteke out of the water.

Lukaku - hailed as 'unplayable' by Roberto Martinez - is on fire at the moment, and that doesn't bode well for the Merseyside Derby. That said, Daniel Sturridge is also scoring goals, so it'll be interesting to see how who makes the difference on Sunday.